Newsroom
Two races. Two gold medals. Kalia Antoniou is leaving the Taranto Mediterranean Games with twice the reason to smile, and Cyprus with another sporting moment to celebrate.
The Cypriot swimmer won the women’s 50-meter freestyle in 24.92 seconds, touching the wall ahead of Italy’s Elena Capretta, who finished in 25.02. Fellow Italian Agata Maria Ambler took bronze in 25.12.
The victory came after Antoniou successfully defended her Mediterranean title in the 100-meter freestyle, winning in 54.60 seconds by just seven-hundredths of a second.
Her second gold carried a little extra satisfaction. At the previous Mediterranean Games in Oran, Antoniou took bronze in the 50-meter event. Four years later, she returned faster and moved two steps higher on the podium.
Antoniou said the improvement from bronze to gold showed the progress she had made, although she modestly rejected suggestions that she should now be called the “queen of the pool.” She said she still has more to achieve, including new personal records.
That ambition can wait for another day.
For now, two events and two gold medals make Antoniou one of Cyprus’ standout performers in Taranto and proof that a small island can still make a very big splash.
